Something to Think About...

I know that many people feel that BYU is a really sheltered place to be, and I do agree with you but I think in some way it is a good thing. I love the atmosphere at BYU (a majority of the time). I came from a town in California where I did not have any LDS friends, for me BYU has been a breath of fresh air. One of the great BYU traditions is the Devotionals given each Tuesday at 11:05 am. This week one of my wonderful Public Health professors gave the Devotional address. I must confess that I am not that good about going to Devotional, I can usually think of a million things to do other than hike up to the Marriot Center, but this week I decided to tune in. The speaker, Dr. Barnes, is one of my favorite professors, I cant say enough good things about him (remember I said this because I have him next semester and I might not feel so happy in November). Anyway the focus of his address was “Finding Strength in Christ”. He spoke about finding strength and humility in our weaknesses, this talk couldn’t have come at a better time for me, I am starting to really panic about graduate school in the Fall (I know I can do it but the unknown is always scary). I think that all of you should listen to the address but I understand that life gets in the way. I have included the three quotes that I think sum up the talk.

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do, not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but that our power to do is increased….” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Our weak nature may not change, but there is a power, even a heavenly power to do important things in spite of that weakness”.

“We may wonder why a loving Heavenly Father wants us to see our weakness. Heavenly Father wants to bless us and help us grow, that is the point of mortality, as we see and understand our weaknesses we are humbled and turn to the Lord for help.”

Just in case you decide you do actually want to hear Dr. Barnes here is the link
http://speeches.byu.edu/download.php/Barnes_Michael_072008.mp3